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Heimir Hallgrimsson has admitted he would perform “****y” if that happened republic of ireland Beat armenia To keep their World Cup qualification hopes alive.
Ireland face Yeghishe Melikyan’s side at the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday, knowing nothing but a win will effectively end their campaign in Group F with two games still in hand.
Hallgrimsson’s men put up an impressive rearguard performance. portugal On Saturday – helped by Kielher Kielher Cristiano Ronaldo’s penalty save – only to be felled by Ruben Neves’ header at the death, but the Icelander doesn’t care how well they play against the Armenians as long as they get what they want.
He said: “The only thing that matters tomorrow is the final result. No matter what we do, I’ll take it as a ****y game and win 1-0.”
“Yes, it’s a 100 percent outcome game.”
Hallgrimsson and his players know any margin for error is now gone after a 2-2 home draw with Hungary, defeats to Armenia and Portugal.
However, the 58-year-old is confident they can still dig themselves out of the hole to finish second behind the Portuguese and make the play-offs.
“I’ve always been honest with you, I believe in this team. I think this team has everything it takes to qualify for the World Cup,” he said.
“At the moment we are probably not the favorites in the group, but a win tomorrow will change that and I am confident we are going to do that.”
Some within the Ireland camp will need reminding of last month’s visit yerevanwhich ended with a 2–1 defeat to a team currently ranked 103rd in the world by FIFA, some 42 places below the Republic.
Hallgrimsson said: “If you watched Armenia’s last game where they went to Hungary, we know it’s a good team and Hungary were lucky to leave with the win.
“Even at 1-0, Armenia had a lot of good opportunities to punish and it’s just a good team, so never here, nobody underestimated Armenia.”
If Ireland are to prosper in Dublin – without suspended midfielder Josh Cullen – they could do so with a first clean sheet of the campaign, which captain Nathan Collins and his colleagues maintained for 91 minutes in Portugal before Neves struck.
Recent results have been criticized but Collins says he does not feel the weight of the shirt he wears with so much pride.
He said: “Listen, playing for Ireland is one of the biggest honors and it’s not easy at all because every kid growing up wants to play for Ireland.
“At international level I feel like it’s a slightly different game than club football because there’s a lot more time to prepare for a game and there are bigger breaks in between and a lot of tactical stuff [things] Going on, where in club football the games are denser and faster so it is a different game.
“The pressure of playing for Ireland is a privilege. The pressure of wearing the green jersey is something you’ve always wanted and it’s something I will never take lightly.”